Attempt to freeze pay for Calgary city councillors defeated by tie vote – Calgary

A scheduled wage improve for Calgary metropolis council will go forward after an try to freeze pay was defeated in a tie vote.

Metropolis council bought an replace on compensation late Tuesday, after each Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek and ward 1 councillor Sonya Sharp introduced intentions final week to reverse the pay bump via separate motions.

“I feel it’s completely acceptable, in a yr the place so many Calgarians are going through affordability points, for us to freeze our wage for this yr,” Gondek stated Tuesday.

Sharp’s deliberate movement, co-signed by Andre Chabot, Terry Wong and Dan McLean, was to freeze council’s salaries at 2024 ranges for the following 5 years.

“With the assessments popping out the way in which they did, and the tax will increase, I feel we’ve got to set an instance,” Sharp advised reporters Tuesday.

Calgary’s mayor is about to make $220,298, whereas metropolis councilors will take dwelling $124,462 in 2025, which is a 3.07 per cent pay improve over final yr.

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If the pay freeze was authorised, the mayor’s wage would stay at $213,737 and $120,755 for metropolis councilors.

Nonetheless, the movement to freeze council salaries for 2025 from ward 5 coun. Raj Dhaliwal was defeated in a tie vote.

It required a reconsideration of final yr’s approval of suggestions from the Council Compensation Committee, which might’ve wanted a two-thirds majority for approval.

That committee advisable persevering with the use the system of Alberta common weekly earnings information to dictate council salaries.

2025 will mark the fourth consecutive yr a pay improve was dictated by that system.

Ward 2 coun. Jennifer Wyness argued that wage financial savings from former ward 6 coun. Richard Pootmans’ departure from council late final yr would “cowl way more” than the proposed freeze.

Others, like ward 11 coun. Kourtney Penner stated the financial savings from freezing pay could be a drop within the bucket within the metropolis funds.

“Displaying up for individuals truly comes once we do our funds,” she advised reporters. “This can be a resolution that may have zero impact on affordability for Calgarians.”

Sharp later posted to social media and stated she was disillusioned within the consequence of the vote.

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